90
DOCS.
124,
125
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER
1908
It
seems
to
me
that
if
an
oscillation
really
occurs
with lawlike
regularity
when the
swings
are very
small,
then
one can measure
small forces in
a
quite elementary
way.[3]
Please write
me your
opinion
about
this matter,
and
don't mention
it to
anybody
even
if
you
have
a
bad
opinion
of the
whole
thing.
(Your
wife and
you
are 1)
definition.
I
have it in mind
to
build such
an
instrument
and
possibly
to
take
out
a
patent,
or
perhaps not,
it
depends
on
you.
Of
course,
one can
have
the external
part
rotate too with
a specific velocity,
but then
a
commutation
must
take
place.
I
would be
very glad
if
you
told
me more
about the
Masch.
And
I
am
already quite
glad
that
at
least the
electrometer
works
properly.
I
wish I
had
gotten
a good spanking
for
having
built
my
Masch
so idiotically knowing everything
and not
thinking
of
anything
but
at
least
I
have
a
back-ache
again
which
is
also
a
comfort.
Please write
me
what
you
think of the
pendulum etc.,
I
am very
anxious to
get your
opinion
With
cordial
greetings
to
you
and wife and
Bujo, your
P.
H.
125.
To Jakob
Laub
[Bern,
after
1
November
1908][1]
Dear
Mr. Laub,
It's unbelievable
how
we
blundered then.
Sie takuissemus
. .
.[2]
However,
such
a
correction
also has
something
edifying
about
it.[3]
And
properly
mended
is preferable
to
full
of
holes. How
about
using
the last
sentence
as an
epigraph at
the head of
our
correction?
The
Maschinchen is
ready
and works well for
higher
voltages.[4]
In order
to test
it
for volt,
under
1/10 volt,
I
built
an
electrometer
and
a
voltage
battery.
You woudn't
be
able to
suppress
a
smile if
you saw
the
magnificent
thing
that
I
patched
together
myself.
But
there
is
no
electrometer
in Bern, and I
want to
clear
up
this
question at
last.
In
any
case,
the results obtained
thus
far
are encouraging.
Greetings
from
your
A.
Einstein
You
must
take
a
look
at
J.
Stark's
work;
I
consider
this
application
of the
quantum
theory
very
important.[5]